Recap: Mavericks 111, Magic 105

January 20, 2013

He’s been known as Half Man, Half Amazing, Air Canada and more simply Vinsanity.

However, pretty soon you may be able to tack on the Fountain of Youth to fitting Vince Carter nicknames.

The Central Florida native has revitalized his career as a sixth man in Dallas and demonstrated to his NBA hometown on Sunday what he’s still capable of at 35 years of age.

Carter notched 15 points, six assists, three blocks, two rebounds and one steal in the Mavericks’ 111-105 road win over the Magic.

“This is home for him and he probably looks forward to it,” Magic Head Coach Jacque Vaughn explained. “He did some good things for them.”

Carter made his presence felt during two critical stretches of the game. Checking in with his team down 20-8, the former Orlando guard jumpstarted a 15-0 first-quarter Dallas run by drilling a 3-pointer and then dishing out three assists.

“(He) came in and got us juiced up,” Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle explained. “The (second unit) got us back into it.”

His second standout moment sealed the deal for Dallas. With momentum in Orlando’s favor and a once 13-point lead cut down to two, Carter made a nice move to draw Jameer Nelson toward the basket and found an open Darren Collison in the corner for a clutch trey with 31.9 seconds left.

“I should have known he was going to do that,” Jameer Nelson said. “He didn’t even come off the pick-and-roll. What he did was he took one dribble and I bit. I was kind of like a thirsty cornerback. I went in and Collison knocked down the shot.”

In front of a crowd that featured a number of his friends and family and in a building that he helped open, getting a victory in Orlando is still a special thing for Carter.

“It is always fun to come back home and play in front of family and friends, especially now since I play in the West,” Carter explained. “It’s fun to be able to look up and see my friends and some I haven’t seen in a while, but they come to show support.”

“We have to come up with a solution together. I said it earlier, the one thing we’re doing is sticking together. Nobody is separating nobody outside the box in terms of our team. And we’re doing things as a team, it’s frustrating sometimes.” - Magic guard Jameer Nelson, who had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists in Sunday's loss.